I have spent the last 17 years partnering with boards to appoint executive and non-executive talent. What I have learned is that the most successful business leaders and executives want to give back.
Their biggest value-add to other organisations is their time and expertise and in return they benefit from building broader networks, developing new skills, and gaining experience to make them better leaders.
Like the clients I work with, purpose and values are so important to me. Giving back is something I have always tried to do where I can.
Over the years I have mentored graduates, climbed mountains, and cycled to raise money for various charities. I regularly donate to good causes and invest in purpose-driven start-ups, but where I feel I have made the biggest impact and gained the most satisfaction is joining the board of a social enterprise and charity.
Focusing on social and environmental impact, The Wood Store forms part of the country’s leading social and environmental social enterprise network, Community Wood Recycling. To me it’s a perfect fit with where I could add some value.
We help individuals overcome the barriers to re-joining the workplace after experiencing long-term unemployment, homelessness, a probation service referral, mental health issues, addiction recovery, physical disabilities, or learning disabilities. We do this by providing training and volunteer opportunities to develop new skills across the retail, workshop, and recycling parts of the organisation. We then offer paid employment opportunities to those volunteers.
From an environmental perspective, the work we do via our collections teams, community workshops, and retail stores divert hundreds of tonnes of wood from disposal in turn helping reduce C02 emissions. Nationally the group collected 24,000 tonnes of wood in 2022 and 11KT of CO2 reduction.
Since my appointment four years ago, we have worked hard to achieve a lot as a team: gaining charity status, securing new premises, supporting the organisation through a global pandemic, launching a crowdfunding campaign, restructuring the commercial organisation, and receiving numerous fundraising grants. I have supported the board and management team in key areas where I could add value – marketing, people/talent, and commercial dimensions – but with smaller charitable organisations like this one, there are so many areas to get involved in.I love the fact that across SRI, supporting others through volunteering, charitable initiatives, and sitting on charity boards is heavily encouraged. I would strongly encourage everyone to consider what value could they add as a non-executive director or trustee and think about the positive impact this could make to the organisation you join as well as the value this gives back to you.
